"The patriarch of the Marathon Family, Wilhelm …"
"What Marathon …" Lin Li was confused at first, but he almost bit his tongue halfway through his sentence. "You mean the Marathon Workshop?"
"That's right …"
Lin Li stared at Azalez, dumbfounded. After a long while, he muttered to himself, "What a powerful background …"
This background was indeed too powerful …
In the entire Felan Kingdom, if there was a force that could compete with the Mannes Family in terms of wealth, it would be the Marathon Family.
The legendary arms dealer of the kingdom controlled more than 70% of the forging business in the Felan Kingdom. Anything that was related to forging would have the mark of the Marathon Forging Workshop.
The Marathon Family and the Mannes Family — these two giants almost completely dominated the economic lifeline of the kingdom.
But in terms of business strategy, these two giants were completely different.
The Mannes Family's Gilded Rose was opened almost all over the Felan Kingdom. Even in the most remote villages, the sign of the Gilded Rose could be found. In Ysera's words, after he died, he would definitely open the Gilded Rose to heaven!
And the Marathon Family was a famous arms dealer.
The Marathon Forging Workshop's most elite equipment had always been provided to the kingdom's army. For example, the Sky Knights' lances and armors were all from the Marathon Forging Workshop.
To put it more exaggeratedly, if there was no Marathon Forging Workshop, the Felan Kingdom today would probably still be a kingdom where mages had to wear armor whenever there was a war.
Compared to the long-established Mannes Family, the Marathon Family started much later. They started their rise 600 years ago, and it was only in the recent 300 years that they finally reached the peak of their glory.
Back then, the Marathon Forging Workshop was just a small blacksmith's shop. But with their exquisite forging skills, this small blacksmith's shop climbed up step by step over hundreds of years. Until today, they not only monopolized the arms business in the Felan Kingdom, but also extended their tentacles to various fields.
In the past 600 years, the Marathon Family had gradually spread their influence to every corner of the Felan Kingdom with their astonishing wealth. From the imperial court to the military, there were people from the Marathon Family in almost every position. All kinds of interests were entangled together, and the entanglement became deeper and tighter. Today, the Marathon Family had completely become a terrifying behemoth.
Today's Marathon Family could be said to have reached the pinnacle of glory, be it in terms of wealth or power. Even the equally wealthy Mannes Family could not be compared to them, because behind this colossus stood the entire Felan Kingdom's army.
The current head of the family, Wilhelm, was deeply trusted by His Majesty. He had been in charge of the military affairs of Felan for 30 years, and his title had been promoted again and again. Now, he was already a duke of the kingdom. Even with Azalez's illustrious background and strength as a Legendary Warrior, he had to respectfully address Wilhelm as Sir Wilhelm when he saw him.
This was the glory of the Marathon Family today.
"The Matthias that you injured is Wilhelm's second son." Azalez glanced at Lin Li with a worried expression.
"I'm very surprised …" Lin Li touched his nose, and smiled awkwardly. Honestly, he really did not expect Matthias to have such an illustrious background. He was actually the son of a kingdom's arms dealer. Unfortunately, he was a little stupid …
Azalez did not speak, but his expression showed some doubt.
There was one thing that he could not understand no matter how much he thought about it.
How could he not know Wilhelm's character? He was a person who would seek revenge for the smallest grievance. In the past few hundred years, the Marathon Family only had one magic genius, Matthias. He was sent to the Sunrise City Guild of Magic by Wilhelm when he was only a few years old. This Matthias did not let Wilhelm down — he had already reached the standard of a level-12 Magic Shooter at such a young age.
Even the ants of Alanna knew how much Wilhelm doted on his youngest son. Before the trial started, Wilhelm had used all his connections, and even persuaded the chief palace mage Aegis to help him. He had to ensure that Matthias would achieve good results in this trial.
This matter was no longer a special secret among the nobles of the Felan Kingdom. Even Azalez, the leader of the Sky Knights, who did not socialize often, had heard of it.
But no one had expected that Matthias's limbs would be broken at the start of the trial. To Wilhelm, this was undoubtedly a slap on his face.
With Wilhelm's vengeful character, how could he let this young mage off?
Azalez could not understand how this kid could still stand here in one piece after giving Wilhelm a slap, and still have the leisure to stroll around the black market?
Azalez could not understand, but Lin Li had long figured it out.
It seemed that the two in the Guild of Magic were really under a lot of pressure during this period of time …
But Lin Li did not say anything, and only secretly remembered this matter in his heart.
"Do you need my help?"
"No need to trouble yourself." Lin Li shook his head, and rejected Azalez's suggestion.
As the leader of the Sky Knights, if Azalez was willing to step in personally, even Wilhelm would most likely have to give him some face. Although it would not be to the extent of letting this matter go, it should not be a problem to give both parties some chance to turn things around.
Of course, this was on the premise that Lin Li had to lower his head.
And this was also the reason why Lin Li rejected it.
It was not that Lin Li did not know how to lower his head, but when he did, it usually meant that he would smash a brick on the person's head in the next second.
Moreover, he did not want to owe such a big favor.
After putting this matter aside, the two chatted for a while until it was almost noon. Then, Lin Li left Azalez's house, and walked along the street all the way back to the Guild of Magic.
Before entering the guild hall, Lin Li once again went to the equipment store at the corner of the street.
He had obtained ten pieces of Fire Salamandrid skin, but they were all raw skin that had not been tanned, so they were as hard as iron plates. It was impossible to make them into leather armor … En, it was possible to make them into shields and hold them in one's hands …
"Good afternoon, Mage Felic."
"Good afternoon, Boss Buck." Lin Li greeted the boss, and looked around at the new equipment. Then, he casually asked, "How's business?"
"Today's luck is good. I just sold a few pieces of armor. Hehe, speaking of which, it's all thanks to you, Mage Felic. If not for the Eternal Adamantine you left for me last time, these few pieces of armor would not have sold so well …"
"It's just a small matter, it's nothing …"
The two of them had done business a few times, and were now considered acquaintances. In addition, when Lin Li smelted the Eternal Adamantine the last time, he saw that some of the broken ores were not easy to smelt, so he simply gave them to this boss named Buck as a favor.
Barker ran an equipment shop himself, so how could he not know the value of the Eternal Adamantine? Even if it was just a small piece of ore, it was not something that just anyone could get their hands on. Not only was he grateful to Lin Li, he even thanked him every time he saw him, which made Lin Li feel a little embarrassed.
"Oh yes, Boss Buck, I actually came here today because I have something to trouble you with." Lin Li took a look around the equipment store, and chatted with Buck for a while before handing over the parcel in his hand. "I have some magical beast hides here. Can you help me tan them? I'll come back in a few days."
"Of course, no problem." Buck was also a grateful person. The Eternal Adamantine given by this young mage was a great help to him.
If not for the Eternal Adamantine, how could those few pieces of armor sell so well?
"There's a total of ten pieces. How much do you need to pay?"
"What money …" After Buck took the parcel, he immediately rejected Lin Li's reward. "You've helped me so much, and I haven't even had the chance to thank you. What's the cost of tanning a few pieces of magical beast skin? Mage Felic, if you continue to talk about money, you're looking down on me, Buck … "
"…" Lin Li did not expect Buck to be so resolute. However, since he did not want to accept the money, Lin Li did not force him. He only thanked him again. "Then I'll have to trouble you."
"This is nothing …"
Buck was right. The business in the store was really quite good these few days. Lin Li had just handed the ten pieces of Fire Salamandrid skin to him, and before he could turn around, another customer came to the door.
They were two young adventurers. One was a Bandit, and the other was a Warrior. They seemed to be doing well. The Warrior was carrying a double-edged sword on his back. The moment he entered the door, Lin Li could tell that it was a fire element magical weapon. Among the Alanna Adventurers, those who could afford magical weapons were considered to be top figures.
As for the Bandit, his pair of boots made Lin Li look at him in surprise.
If Lin Li did not see wrongly, this pair of boots should be enchanted with magic.
It seemed that these two adventurers were doing well.
The facts proved Lin Li's guess. The moment they entered the door, the Warrior asked, "Boss, I heard that you sell Eternal Adamantine armor here?"
Seeing that there was a customer, Buck could only smile at Lin Li apologetically. He temporarily put the parcel on the counter, and welcomed them with a warm smile. "Sir, you really have a good eye. I not only sell Eternal Adamantine armor here, but also weapons produced by the Marathon Forging Workshop. Do you want to take a look at this spear?"
"I don't need the weapon for now. Let me take a look at the armor first. If it's really as good as the rumors say, I can consider buying two pieces." It was obvious that this Warrior adventurer came for the Eternal Adamantine armor.
It was beyond Lin Li's expectation that a few pieces of Eternal Adamantine could bring such good business to an equipment store …
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
